THE NEW YORKER ister's daughter who grows up in the slow-motion, pre-development world of Florida in the fifties, in a series of towns "sleepy and ringing with no sound at all." Carrie is obediently religious, but quietly rebels by apply- ing her sharp eye and language to everyone around her, telling us that her father stands before his con- gregation as though he had just stepped out onto his front porch, and that her mother is shocked more by people's extravagances than by their secret lusts. Carrie herself occasion- ally fantasizes about being a mission- ary in Africa, but admits that when she searches her sou] the only thing she is sure she wants in the future is a husband. Having interested us in Carrie's movement toward adult- hood and away from spirituality, the author doesn't quite deliver: the book jumps abruptly at the end from Car- rie's youthful observations to the musings of a grownup, divorced, in- dependent woman whose coming- of-age we've missed. N aTE: "The Rain Came Last & Other Stories," by Niccolò Tucci, has been published by New Directions ($22.95 cloth, $10.95 paper). Many of the stories originally appeared in The New Yorker. GENERAL DRAWING THE LINE: THE KOREAN WAR, 1950-1953, by Richard Whelan (Little, Brown; $24.95). An intellectually sophisticated his- tory in plain language. Mr. Whelan emphasizes the political and dip- lomatic aspects of the "police ac- tion," seeing it as both an effect and a cause of the Cold War that is now ending. His account of the actual fighting is accurate, though not de- tailed; his strength and originality lie in his portrayal of mutual misun- derstanding. Because the United States had no particular stake in Korea, we failed to recognize its importance to its neighbors. The North Korean invasion of South Korea forced us to defend a country from which we had all but with- drawn and a government of which we disapproved, in order to demon- strate that the United N ations- unlike the League of N ations- would halt aggression. The war de- stroyed the State Department's hope of reaching an understanding with Red China, but it drew the Western D - 1 r Timely Information + Special Promotions + Retail Locations + e c From The New Yorker Reader Services Use our convenient touch-tone phone line to hear special messages about the quality products and services listed below Call toll-free from any touch-tone phone: 1 · ij ij · b 1 1 · ) ) b St.Louis · · TheMeetin( ftlace 3 0 0 1 3 P fl!Y T CrossCreek . .. 30051 tvy.[)- I SA Free Golf Weekend Contest BERMUDA. . .. A SHORT TRIP TO THE PERFECT HOLIDAY 30056 . . 30095 æ@ "The Caress of Cas hrn ere" . ; . . . J . ..... 30011 A d v e . r t: 1 AMERICAN ART SPECIALISTS ]) mE CEXCI 109 .... 30022 . .. 30001 Beef B .. .. Real Food for Real People. 30063 Caption Cartoon Contest 1dad " .. ST VINCENT 3 0 0 1 5 Executive Health Centrf"s PLC s e III e n t: . . 30097